Monster Hunter R
by Master Bebop
Summary: In this dark and gritty, mature-rated take on the series, strange monsters begin to infest Minegarde after an abnormally powerful Tsunami hits the Southern Coastline, and a tale of revenge and redemption unfolds between old rivals.
1. Chapter One

**Monster Hunter R**

"_To be a hunter is to walk a road of blood and solitude. There will be no time for friends, for the friends you make will die in the field next to you, and the reward you receive in the end will not seem so great." -- Chief Kazumagi, Arrow's End, 3ME 287 _

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_Chapter One_

Feet on damp ground. Scream in distance. Echoes of sanity drifting out of her control. Sakura ran as best she could through the muddy jungle, blood pouring down her leg. It was too dark to tell it apart from the rain. She could hear the vicious creatures snarling as they pursued her, but she could not sustain her speed. It hurt. It hurt too bad. Her friend, the friend she had loved since childhood, since memories were faint and fuzzy, was just ahead of her, running at full speed. Kai, her beloved Kai. She wanted nothing more than to hold him, feel his warmth and leave the dark jungle behind. But she knew they would probably both die here.

Finally her leg gave out on her, and she slipped and fell down into a small, muddy hole. Kai heard Sakura fall, and he stopped cold in his tracks. Spinning around, he pointed his bowgun off into the darkness, rain blurring his normally acute eyesight. Their snarling had stopped. Sakura had disappeared from view. All Kai could hear was the pounding of rain against the jungle brush, and his own shallow breaths.

"Sakura?" he called out into the night. That was his first and final mistake. A large, inverted foot with three, webbed toes slammed against his back, pressing him face-first into the mud. The scaly, grey foot had wicked, curving claws on the end of each toe, all the more sickening when they sunk into Kai's spine. He screamed in pain but it was overshadowed by a deep bellow from the creature. Dozens of others like it responded from the nearby thicket of foliage.

Their ominous call sounded like a distorted, high-pitched whale. The way it wavered made it seem as if they were laughing maniacally. A long neck stretched out of the trees to the edge of the muddy trail. It was eyeless, and quite featureless other than two nostrils and a small mouth with teeth that were too large to stay within, instead protruding out and curving down the side of its maw. The horrifying creature walked out from the brush, moving onto the trail in an awkward gait, as if it were sewn together from old bits of leather. It was very large, easily twelve meters tall, and both legs were inverted, and had long blades sticking out of the back of the knee. Its neck extended down to a slim but muscular body, with armless wings and a slender tail. As the creature stepped down onto the path, it forced all of its weight onto Kai, crushing his shoulder blades and bending his spine. He was paralyzed already.

Sakura sat sobbing quietly in her hole, invisible to the strange animals that were too busy being drawn to the fallen prey ahead. She crawled up to the edge of the pit and stared out into the rain. Immediately she returned to the hole where she curled up into a ball and began convulsing in fear. Kai's arm was being torn from its socket by the creature. The monster's jaw seemed to unhinge, revealing a massive array of sharp teeth inside. Kai was silent as it picked away at his shoulder. Others were shuffling towards the kill, making odd, high-pitched squeaking noises, almost like birds.

Sakura attempted to crawl out of the hole, but her leg slipped on the mud, and she yelled as she fell, hitting her injured leg. Something rumbled to the right of her. It wasn't thunder. Then she heard splashing as the creatures, one by one, began to approach her. Sakura suddenly realized in a stunning revelation: that despite all the meticulous planning, the long nights of training and preparation, the promises made by her beloved Kai, despite it all, she would die here, in the cold, storming jungle. Paradise, she had been told.


	2. Chapter Two

_Chapter Two _

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"Two hundred meters, slightly elevated, immobile."  
"I don't see it."  
"By the palm tree, resting in the shade. It's young, but quite large."  
"Wyvern?"  
"Yes."  
"I see it. It- my god, it's massive!"

Off in the distance, beneath a large palm tree, lay an enormous, green-scaled creature, with a long, barbed tail and two magnificent wings with markings like a butterfly.  
"Yes. Take your shot carefully."  
"What? I couldn't possibly bring that down in one shot!"  
"Of course not. So do your best to impede its progress towards us."  
"You're joking."  
"Time is of the essence, Wendir. Take the shot."  
Wendir lowered his custom-built, long-range bowgun, and stared at his mentor.  
"Karu, I can't do this. That thing will tear us to shreds!"  
Karu narrowed his thin eyebrows and stared at his apprentice. His emerald green eyes shone brilliantly in the midday sun, and his shoulder-length, onyx-colored hair waved about gently.

"Take the shot. _Now,_" he said calmly.  
Wendir sighed, and raised his gun again. He looked down the scope at the enormous Wyvern, and shivered. He fired. The bullet came up short and dug deep into the ground. Again he pulled the trigger, this time aiming higher. It struck the tree this time, splintering the wood and awakening the Wyvern.  
"Damn it, I can't hit it!"

The Wyvern opened it's yellow eyes, and slowly stood, yawning. Karu, knowing their lives depended on it, grabbed Wendir and pushed him aside. Looking down the scope of Wendir's gun, Karu suddenly realized Wendir had not aligned the sight correctly when he assembled the weapon. A sweat began to form on the mentor's brow, as the Rathian saw them, and made a rumbling noise with its throat.  
"Karu… Karu do something…"  
"Quiet, fetch my rifle," he said as he began to disassemble Wendir's gun as fast as he could.  
"It's b-back at the balloon, sir-"  
_"Do it!" _

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Wendir nervously took off for the thicket of trees behind them, off into jungle. Meanwhile, across the field, the Rathian gave an ear-piercing roar. Karu cringed, but continued to take apart the gun. The Wyvern took off from the shade, rushing towards the lone marksman with astonishing speed. The heavy footfalls shook the ground, and Karu, whose hands were shaking as well, dropped the scope of the gun. The Rathian was only a half a dozen meters away. Karu abandoned the rifle, and drew a compact, flintlock handgun from his waist.

He aimed at the creature, but it was already upon him. Firing the pistol madly, Karu ran backwards towards the safety of the thick trees. Slipping on a knotted root, he toppled over onto his back. The Rathian lowered it's great, spiked head, and wrapped its jaws around Karu's leg. It began to pull him off the ground, but Karu aimed directly at the Rathian's eye with the handgun. A bullet struck its massive, yellow eye, ruining it. The beast let go of Karu, who promptly ran for the trees, ignoring the slight pain in his leg. The creature had never bit down with full force, and in moments Karu was safely deep in the thick foliage. It roared in fury, and charged towards the trees. Karu drew his short, steel rapier from his waist and slowly backed up as it approached.

Wendir raced into the wicker balloon basket, and grabbed the massive, high-powered bowgun. As he was heading back into the jungle, a man stepped out from behind a tree.  
"Wendir," he said in a classy tone, tipping his red, feathered hat low. Wendir stopped, nearly dropping the rifle, and realized how hard he was breathing. He gasped, and motioned for the man to wait a second.  
"I need to speak with your mentor. It is quite urgent."  
"Okay… just… not… right now… Alistair…" he managed to say.  
"It's very important, you see-"  
"Not… now," he said, catching his breath, and pushing the man aside on his way back to his mentor. Alistair narrowed his eyebrows and frowned as he watched Wendir disappear into the thicket. He drew a thin cigarette and stuck it in his mouth.  
"Should be interesting," he mumbled, drawing a match as he strolled off after the fledgling hunter.

* * *

Karu and the Wyvern stood very still, watching each other silently. The Wyvern's face was soaked in blood from its shot eye, and it was making a low growling at the hunter beyond the trees. "That's right… watch me… watch me…"  
The Rathian snarled. It knew it was being mocked. Wyverns were actually very intelligent, sentient beings. They spoke among each other using their minds, something most people didn't know, or don't understand about them.  
"Karu!" Wendir shouted from behind, rushing towards his side with the bowgun. "Are you alright? Did it-"  
"No, no, I'm fine. Just give me my gun."  
"But master, your leg, it's bleeding-"  
"I'm fine damn it,_ now hand me my gun_." The apprentice passed his mentor the bowgun, and he promptly began to unfold the stock and extend the barrel. Once he had screwed the muzzle tight and aligned the scope, he aimed the weapon at the Rathian. The beast made a rumbling noise, as if it was about to roar. But Karu knew better. He knew it was about to shoot a fireball.  
"Wendir. Take cover. Somewhere, anywhere."  
"But sir-"  
_"Now!" _

Wendir stammered and ran off and hid behind a large tree. Karu took aim on the Rathian's unarmored forehead, while it continued to form a fireball. He had to make this shot count, or he was most definitely dead.  
"See you in hell," said Karu, sliding back the seal on the chamber of the gun.  
"That won't be necessary, Rikaru."

Karu lowered his weapon, and the Rathian held back it's fireball. Alistair, adorned in a flowing red leather coat stepped out of the jungle, just beside Karu.  
"Now is not the time," said Karu. Alistair took off his feathered hat, and with the other hand, blew a puff of smoke from his cigarette.  
"I'm afraid it is. We need to talk."  
Karu watched as the Rathian blew smoke from its nostrils.  
"Quickly," he replied.  
"Something happened down near the beach. Right around the time when that Tsunami hit."  
"Explain," said Karu, adjusting the zoom on his rifle and once again shouldering it.  
"A strange new species of monster has begun appearing in Southern Haka. We believe the Tsunami has something to do with it. Neksu has asked that we investigate. He has already employed myself and my group. He wants you as well, and your squad. Will you do it?"

Karu cursed under his breath. "I can't. I'm here training my apprentice. Jumbo is finally peaceful again, you really think I'm going to move down south just because of a few new monsters?"  
Alistair took a long drag of his cigarette, and watched as the Rathian paced about nervously beyond the trees, eyes on Karu.  
"These creatures could easily threaten that peace of yours, Rikaru. Countless hunters and civilians have already been killed by the things. And frankly, you don't have a choice."

Karu lowered his bowgun, and turned to face Alistair.  
"You think you can hold that against me? I paid my debts to Neksu, and to the guild. I'm a free man, Alistair."  
Alistair blew some more smoke, then grinned. "Man is never free, Rikaru. You will see Neksu in Kaito City. He will be waiting."  
And with that, Alistair put his hat back on, tossed his cigarette, and strode off into the jungle. Karu sneered as Alistair became a fleck of red in the distance, and eventually, disappeared.  
"Sir…" said Wendir from behind him.  
Karu turned to face the boy, a questioning look on his face. "It's gone."

For a moment, Karu was unsure of what Wendir meant. Then he remembered the Rathian, and spun around to face his opponent. The Wyvern had vanished.


	3. Chapter Three

_Chapter Three _

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The laughter faded away, replaced by the shattering of glass and sickening crunch of one man's nose being broken. A man struck the ground, face-first, totally unconscious.  
"Now what have we learned here today?" shouted a man wearing a red leather trench coat, his foot on the man on the floor.  
"Simply put, don't _fuck _with a Monster Hunter." He then spat on the man beneath his foot and headed for the exit.

"Stay out, ya washed up wreck!" shouted the bartender from across the room, a Genprey-crafted shotgun in tow.  
"Love ya too, babe," he bid, exiting the bar and heading out into the streets of Kaito City.

"Was that really necessary?" said another man in a red trench coat, running to catch up with the first as he departed. He was bulky, bald, and dark-skinned.  
"Absolutely, Zane, it's our job to make sure these townsfolk are in order!"  
"Look, Vance, Alistair asked us to lay low while he met with Neksu. Is this what you call laying low? Getting into bar fights?"  
"Fight? No, no, no, Zane, you've got it all wrong! I was merely having a disagreement with our now unconscious friend," replied Vance, outstretching his arms and displaying a charming grin. Zane scoffed and followed Vance down the narrow cobblestone street.

"Did you ever contact Ein?" Zane asked.  
"Tried. Says he's busy over near Sandbrim."  
"Ein? In the desert? Doing _what_, exactly?"

* * *

"Eat it up, you worthless piece of Aptonoth shit!"  
Ein's fist connected with the scoundrel's chin, splitting open the skin and breaking the bone inside. He flew six feet before hitting a stone wall with his forehead.  
"Now what did I tell you fellas? DON'T MESS WITH HELLFIST!" The other criminals were slowly backing up against the wall of their Den.  
"L-Look," said one of them, "It was just a racketeering charge! What does that mean these days? I mean, c-come on we were just-"

And then the thug knew what it felt like to be struck by a tree trunk. He slumped against the wall, blood leaking profusely from his nose.  
"Wrong answer! Would anyone else like to try?"

A second stepped forth, this one larger and more muscular. "Look, we don't want any trouble, okay?"  
Ein noticed a red snake tattoo on the man's arm."Are you 'Red Serpent Freddy'?"  
The man blinked. "Uh…"  
"Wrong time, wrong place, asshole!" Ein grabbed Freddy's head, and slammed it into a nearby table.  
"Now," said Ein, wiping the blood from his hands on his pants, "Is there anyone in this room who _isn't_ wanting to get the shit kicked out of them?"

A small, skinny man from the back raised his hand. "Yeeees?" said Ein, eyebrows raised.

The man gulped nervously, and scratched the back of his head. "You think you c-could uh… could just let this slide?"  
And then a dinner plate struck him in the face. Ein cleared his throat, and turned around. Just one scumbag left. It was a little man, barely four feet tall. He was blinking a lot, and sweating quite a bit too.

"Now, may I kindly ask you to FUCKING SURRENDER?"  
The criminal put his hands out, waiting for the cuffs. They clanked as they went around his hands, and then the two headed outside.  
"Uh… M-M-Mr. B-Bounty Hunter sir?"  
Ein grunted questioningly in reply.  
"I have some friends back East, maybe they could m-make a deal with-"

Everyone on that side of town heard the criminal's head smash through a brick wall.

* * *

"Oh, Ein?" said Vance. "He's just uh… doing a bit of community service," he told Zane, grinning.  
"Well, Alistair needs him down here in about eight hours."  
"Is Alistair paying us this time?" asked Vance.  
"No, Neksu is. Handsomely."  
"Ein will be here," Vance said, chuckling.  
"Good, we're leaving Kaito City for the Badlands tomorrow."  
"The Badlands? Why are we going there?" asked Vance, stopping.  
"Because that's where people from all the destroyed villages are staying. The Tsunami, remember?" said Zane, continuing on down the narrow street.  
"Oh, right," said Vance, running to catch up with him. "I don't know how this Tsunami has anything to do with the new monsters appearing. I mean it can't-"

Suddenly a scream broke the silence of the night. They stopped walking. Zane looked around nervously, and Vance drew his two Wakizashi swords.  
"Nearby," muttered Vance.  
"Quiet." Something could be heard stirring beyond a stone wall at the end of the street, past the bushes behind it.  
"Mugger?" suggested Zane.  
"Not these days. Even women and children carry handguns."  
"Monster?"  
"Men, monster, same thing, we just got gotta hit it til' it dies," said Vance darkly, passing Zane and heading for the wall. Vance began scraping his swords against each other, "warming them up for the kill", he called it. _"Out comes the Wyvern, ready for the fight, down goes its head, another for the blight," _sang Vance quietly as he approached the wall.

"Vance…" said Zane, unstrapping his war hammer from his back. He continued onward regardless, until there was another scream, and a strange, deep bellowing wail.  
"What in god's name?" said Zane, lowering his hammer. Vance stood still, swords by his side, eyes on the wall. Then came the shriek. It was unlike anything he ever heard, so loud he had to drop his blades and cover his ears. It was melancholy, as if it were a cry to mourn someone; just the sound of it made Vance uneasy. Zane shouted over the wailing, but it fell on deaf ears. Well, deaf _human _ears. Immediately something burst through the stone wall, leaving a massive gap and a cloud of dust. The cry went away, and was replaced by a low rumbling noise, almost like a rhythmic clicking. The dust cleared, and Vance and Zane stood there looking at an oddly proportioned creature with skin as black as the night, and an eyeless head… and within its strangely large maw was the half-eaten corpse of a little girl.

"No…" said Zane, almost silently. Vance picked up his blades, and kept his head down as he stood. His face was twitching with hate, his grip tightening around the hilt of each sword, his rage building.  
"Vance… not here, not in town, Alistair said-"  
"_Fuck_ Alistair," he replied, striding swiftly towards the stationary creature. Fury swelled up inside of him, ready to burst like a balloon filled to the brim with gas. It could not be contained. Red light began to circle around Vance's arms, and his veins began to bulge and glow with color. "It's been a while," he said, grinning. "I almost forgot how great it felt…"

Zane looked away, tightening his hold on his war hammer. This would be bad. The red light flowed upwards towards his two Wakizashi blades, and grew and grew until it was so bright the creature had to avert its eyesight.  
"… don't look away…" said Vance, clenching his teeth and picking up his pace."… I want you to know. I want you to _see._"  
Vance leaped into the air, and swung both swords opposite ways, cutting through the monster's upper jaw, and cutting the poor dead girl loose. Then he stepped on its dome-shaped head, as it bellowed in pain. With one blade, he planted it deep in the monster's skull. And with the second, he sliced upwards from below its neck, cutting apart the head as if he were merely using a knife and fork to cut steak. The massive creature fell to the ground, dead.

Blood sprayed from its body, splashing all over Vance's right hand. It burned like acid, but he simply groaned as it ate away at the skin. When it was done, all that was left was charred bone. The red energy from before circled around the hand, giving it life. In the end it still looked like a ruined hand: pieces of rotting flesh clinging to burnt bone. Vance fell to his knees beside the girl, held his destroyed hand, and roared in anger to the skies, for himself, and for the her. Zane stood several feet away, looking with pity upon his friend.

"We need rest, Vince. And then… then we… we need to go back to Alistair."  
Vance stood, and slid a white glove onto his corroded hand, and then another on his uninjured hand."Rest?" he muttered. Vance put a feathered hat back on his head, and strode off into the town."No rest for the wicked, Zane."

Zane knew enough of his friend's past. He didn't question it when he began to follow him off into the darkness of Kaito City.


	4. Chapter Four

_Chapter Four_

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A gentle, cool breeze blew through the streets of the Kaito City Market District, quite a refreshing change in Haka since the Tsunami. Traders gathered around small, makeshift kiosks, various rare or totally useless objects up for sale on the stalls: shining rubies, hardened stones said to be hearts of Wyverns, massive swords embroidered with gemstones and golden lining, endless rows of vials of many kinds of liquids: inhibitors, catalysts, antidotes and rare brews of native jungle drinks. There were small, cat-human hybrids called Felynes gathered around the stalls, raising their merchandise as high as they could, just so their master would feed them.

Another species of cat-human hybrid roamed the alleyways of the market, their black fur blending in with the shadows, and their paw-shaped gadgets reaching out as far as they could to nab a precious coin from a passerby. Melynxes, the brother of the Felyne species, and the more greedy and human-hating kind too. There were beggars, paupers, and people generally down on their luck, laying against the walls of the market's edge, hoping to get the leftovers of someone's sale. It was quite possibly the largest market in all of Southern Minegarde; even The Great Bazaar of Khal-Nalim city paled in comparison.

The sun began to sink low, and customers became few and far between. Most of the stalls closed shop, some even packed up and headed south for the Gem of the Angel Coast, Dawn; a large resort city on the south-eastern tip of Haka.

Karu strode into the market confidently, but with a worn-out look on his face. He hadn't slept a second since Alistair delivered that message over twenty-four hours before.

Wendir followed close behind, hunched over and panting for the two large bowguns on his back, and both of their packs.  
"Come. We are going to get supplies."

Karu and Wendir approached a small, shanty stall, with the prices and times written in a language foreign to most Himeroonians or Hakarian natives. Karu calmly stepped towards the man who sat beyond the counter, a small, plump fellow with tanned skin and blonde hair. He was Lynian in origin, for he was too small to be human, and his ears were long and floppy.

"We need supplies."

The Lynian looked up from his magazine, his glasses slipping off his slits of eyes and onto his red little nose.  
"We closed. Closed an hour ago. Moving south. Green Season over."  
Karu's emerald green eyes narrowed, a sure sign you had done something wrong.  
"Your hours say you don't close until sunset," said Karu, pointing to the sign written in a foreign language, "and if my eyes are still functioning correctly, sunset has yet to come."

The shopkeeper mumbled angrily in an exotic language. "How you-"  
"Know Nalimian? I was born in Jinn village, a small mining town south of Sandbrim. Raised in Khal-Nalim half of my life. I know the desert language better than I know Himeroonian or Hakarian."

The Lynian snorted and mumbled again, this time in a different language, though it had the same pitch, just spoken faster.  
"No, I do not associate myself with the whores or street urchins here in Kaito. I am a civilized type of man, unlike _some_ people."  
At this, the little Lynian left his mouth agape, and nearly tipped out of his stool. "But you-"  
"Shouldn't know Eastern Mou'thasar Ak'hailiin? Probably the fourth language I learned. I am quite well-versed in our land's rich lore. Now, is this a questionnaire about my personal life, or are you just lonely? I need supplies."

The Lynian again mumbled, but this time it was indistinct, unlikely any form of speech at all. He stood, dropping his magazine (which turned out to be a series of photographs and drawings of nude Nalimian dancers) and tipped over his stool.  
"Get out of my store! Leave Kaito! You not belong here!"  
"Ah, but I'm afraid you're quite far from home yourself, my little furry-eared friend. I, on the other hand, come from Jumbo, just north of this city."

The little man was fuming in anger, and his floppy ears were twitching in rage."Buy something or get out!"  
"I dare say that's what I've been trying to do for quite some time. I need a map of Southern Haka, including the Badlands and Mount Kazairn, in addition to its intricate tunnel system."  
"Map like that very expensive. Very hard to find. I sell you one, but eighty-thousand Zeni!"

Karu again narrowed his eyebrows, and focused the bold green orbs on a map, gathering dust in the back of the shop. It showed a coastline marked "Sashiir Aroba Zenako-'Angel Coast'". It was definitely of Southern Haka… and the price tag clearly said five-hundred Tairos, or roughly seven-hundred Zeni.  
"Very well," said Karu in Nalimian. The shopkeeper seemed pleased finally, and his anger subsided.  
"Excellent. Pay up front, and the map is all yours, dear customer," replied the Lynian in his native language.  
"Of course," said Karu, tossing a black, oval-shaped object to the Lynian, while secretly handing something to Wendir from beneath the counter.  
"Wait a minute, this is not-"  
"What you were expecting?" said Karu in a raspy, machine-like voice. The Lynian looked up to see the two men standing before him, strange masks covering their faces.

"_Ish'taku… B-Bast'iiva… N'mora…" _the Lynian managed to mutter, before the gas emitting from the black little device in his hand knocked him clean out. He hit the floor, his floppy ears bouncing wildly, and his droopy old mouth slapping the nude women on the cover of his magazine. It was soon covered in drool._  
"F'raevu N'gastar , Tos'Lekos," _muttered Karu, as he tossed several Tairos coins onto the table. He then grabbed the map, and strode off away from the stall. Wendir sighed, and ran to catch up to him.  
"Did you really need to do that?"  
"No choice. Unfair business leads to unexpected incidents."  
Wendir sighed again.  
"Well what did he say before he blacked out?"  
"Go fuck yourself, but in very poor translation."  
Wendir chuckled darkly. "And what did you say?"  
Karu folded the map up, and stowed it in a pouch on his waist.  
"Rest well, my furry-eared friend."

* * *

Vance and Zane stood on the edge of a small, weathered cliff, facing the wide-ranging, sun scorched plains of the Badlands. Hundreds of tents and campsites were strewn across the field; refugees from the destruction the Tsunami had caused near the coast.  
"Now I know why they call it the Badlands," said Vance with a chuckle, heading down the cliff. "What the hell happened here, anyway?"

"War," replied Zane. "About a decade ago. Countless Wyverns migrated here during a tropical storm. Hunters had to fight them off. It worked, but it took many months, and much tactical preparation and man-power was needed to overrun the beasts. The jungle here was burnt down in the resulting carnage, leaving behind this torn, burnt, and seemingly endless field."  
Vance scoffed. "You sure know your stuff, old buddy. Wish I had paid attention in Guild Knight training."  
"Someone needs the brains to support the both of us," chuckled the burly Zane, following his ally down the slope.  
"I wish Alistair was here with us so he could see this shithole. We would have a good laugh or two, maybe a smoke."  
"That's why I love ya', Vance. You're so fucked up."

Vance grinned in the same, charming yet roguish grin. Then the two made their way towards the first campsite, where an informant was waiting for them. If only they heard the low, almost inaudible bellows from the thicket of trees behind them.


End file.
